Steve Tibbetts is a difficult artist to categorize. While the German-based ECM was (at one time) the home of jazz guitarists Pat Metheny, John Abercrombie and Ralph Towner, Tibbetts' music seems more a product of Jimi Hendrix and Frank Zappa than Jim Hall or Wes Montgomery. Throw into the mix the wordless vocals on some tracks and the use of tabla and synthesizer, and Tibbetts and the other musicians on this CD produce some powerful music–not to mention amazing guitar pyrotechnics from Tibbetts himself.
God Hates Us All is the ninth studio album by American thrash metal band Slayer. Released on September 11, 2001, it received positive critical reviews and entered the Billboard 200 at number 28. It was recorded in three months at The Warehouse Studio in Vancouver, and includes the Grammy Award-nominated "Disciple". The album is the band's last to feature drummer Paul Bostaph until Repentless (2015). The album's release was delayed due to the explicit cover artwork which led to alternative slip covers in some retail outlets, difficulties during audio mixing and a change of distributor for the band's record label, American.
Can't Touch Us Now is the twelfth studio album by the British band Madness, released on their Lucky 7 Records label through Universal Music Catalogue (UMC) on 28 October 2016. Madness are back with their first album in 4 years. The album was produced by Clive Langer and Liam Watson and mixed by Brit Award winner Charlie Andrew. Tracks such as ‘Mr Apples’, ‘Mumbo Jumbo’, the Amy Winehouse referencing ‘Blackbird’ and the title track ‘Can’t Touch Us Now’ capture the band’s inimitable combination of pop, reggae and soul influences. As on many of Madness greatest moments, the lyrics are gloriously observational and humorous, beautifully framing life in London. The album marked the return of founder member Mark Bedford but the departure of Cathal Smyth (Chas Smash).
“Maceo! Blow your horn!” That’s how James Brown would dynamically signal his favorite horn player to take another stinging sax solo — and Maceo Parker never once let his boss down. Parker’s jabbing workouts in the midst of “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag” and “Cold Sweat” made him a household name among ’60s funk fans — not bad for a kid fresh out of college who got the gig primarily because Brown coveted his brother Melvin’s drumming chops.
X: The Godless Void and Other Stories appeared at a timely point in …And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead's career. It arrived six years after the release of 2014's IX, during which time Conrad Keely returned from Cambodia to the band's home base of Austin, Texas, and also coincided with their 25th anniversary. It makes sense, then, that their tenth album finds them taking stock. As …And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead explore how people become more themselves over time while everything else changes, they deliver their most emotionally direct music in quite a while. Their need to follow their hearts – even if they get a little broken along the way – has dominated their music since Source Tags & Codes, and the tension between cathartic freedom and poignancy is as powerful on X: The Godless Void and Other Stories as it was on that landmark album.